Instagram Co-Founders Shut Down AI News App Artifact, Citing Market Challenges

In a surprising move, Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger are closing their AI-driven news app, Artifact, just before its one-year mark. The closure announcement, conveyed via a Medium post by Systrom, disclosed that the core news reading features would be available until the end of February while commenting and posting functionalities were immediately disabled.

Artifact, recognized for its AI-centric approach and interactive environment akin to Reddit, received attention for both its celebrity founders and innovative news consumption methods. Noteworthy features like dedicated author pages earned acclaim and secured a significant presence in Apple and Google's app stores.

CEO Systrom acknowledged the challenges faced by Artifact, stating, "We have built something that a core group of users love, but we have concluded that the market opportunity isn't big enough to warrant continued investment in this way." The wind-down process has begun, with commenting and posting disabled, while news access remains until February's end.

While Systrom remained silent on future ventures, he hinted at a potential foray into a new AI-focused project, expressing excitement about continuing to build new things in the transformative era of artificial intelligence.

Artifact's journey since its January 2023 launch showcased AI-powered article summaries, in-app commenting, and a unique feature allowing users to flag articles as clickbait and then rewrite them using AI. The team of eight working on Artifact will disband, marking the end of this chapter as Systrom eagerly looks forward to new projects.

As Artifact enthusiasts bid farewell, they have a limited time to enjoy the app's features before it bids its final adieu to the digital realm at the end of February.